When it comes to in-app payments, Apple has the intensity of a back alley loan shark.

They'll straight up knee-cap folks, in order to get their money.

Their current targets:

• ​NFTs​

• Crypto exchanges

• and Mark Zuckerberg

Here's how iOS 16's new terms & conditions affect each of the above:

1. NFTs can no longer be used to unlock features or content within an app.
   ​
   (If Apple can't collect 30% of the sale, it ain't happening).
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   We can understand how this would be applied in the case of say, Step'n, where the purchase of an NFT unlocks the walk-to-earn function...
   ​
   But what about something like Discord - where folks are buying their NFTs from completely separate platforms, and using them to access private communities?
   ​

2. Crypto exchanges got off relatively lightly, in that they won't have to share any revenue with Apple - but will face harsher oversight from Apple.
   ​
   Exchanges will need to show “appropriate licensing and permissions to provide a cryptocurrency exchange,” in all regions that they operate in.
   ​
   (Sure, it's more red tape, but not the worst thing from a consumer standpoint).
   ​

3. And Zuck? Ooft. Marky-Mark copped it from every angle.
   ​
   Not only are Apple throttling the potential functionality of NFTs (which Meta have just added to Instagram) but they're now coming for a chunk of their ad revenue!
   ​
   Requiring any in-app paid social media boosting to be split 30/70 between the host platform and Apple.

...and the buck (accidental pun, leaving it in) doesn't stop with Meta:

TikTok, Tumblr, Hinge, Tinder, Bumble, Depop, Etsy, Poshmark - they all feature boost functionality.

So what's the takeaway?

This is another big incentive for the tech world to start shifting towards decentralized systems.

Systems where a single entity can't cut the legs out from an emerging technology, or syphon 30% of revenue from a business (even if it's Meta), with a simple 'terms & conditions' update.